“Ga a kake a nja boswa ke tshela,” vows the old man
An 83-year-old pensioner left Maun Customary Court disappointed on Tuesday morning after he failed to get the court to order his daughter to return his residential property to him.
Vowing to appeal the matter, Nxee Sehera said he would not allow his 54-year-old daughter, Gaone Sehera, to enjoy the inheritance while he is still alive, “Ga a kake a nja boswa ke tshela.”
The background of the case is that Sehera was married to Gaone’s mother and divorced in 1995 following a long, five-year separation.
During the divorce, Sehera is said to have stated that he did not have any other property to share with the wife except for the residential home, located at Boyei ward in Maun.
The said plot, which had a three-room house and a roundavel, was then given to the wife, who was in custody of their minor children, save for one Prince Sehera, who then was aged 22.
The woman is said to have then decided to put the plot in Prince’s custody and, according to information before court, she did so as she was still awaiting land allocation from land board and she did not want the inheritance to jeopardise her chances of being awarded the new plot.
The ex-wife has since passed away and the plot remained under Prince’s custody until he also passed on in 2011.
“On 25th July, 2011, you wrote a letter to Maun Sub-Land Board and requested to inherit the late Prince’s estate and that is how you were given the land rights in terms of the land certificate,” pointed out Kgosi Ledimo in his ruling.
Ledimo added that Sehera obtained the land rights because he was to subdivide the plot among his children, following his eldest son, Prince’s demise.
“Gaone got the right to the said land from you when you said it had to be divided equally among the children. According to testimony from the elders, only one of your children, Dithapo, said he did not want to be given the share of the land and this meant the land was divided among the two female children.”
Following the division of the land, Gaone is said to have paid out her sister and transferred the property into her name.
“Gaone committed no wrong here. If at all there is a fault then it is Maun Sub-Land Board that you should litigate against, not your daughter. She gained the plot legitimately and hence she has made costly developments therein,” ruled Ledimo.
However, Sehera told the court of his wish to appeal against the ruling as he strongly believes the land still belongs to him.
